Crystal Grobe

Crystal Grobe is a Minneapolis-based food writer who enjoys exploring seasonal and local foods. She can be found wandering farmers markets, picking produce at local farms (a lot of it), and enjoying the fantastic food community in Minnesota.

She loves to dine out as much as she loves to cook at home and is always in search of what’s new in food and drink. You can follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and here, on Bite of Minnesota.

Crystal has spent over a decade writing about food for outlets like WCCO, City Pages, and Twin Cities Food Finds. She has developed recipes for General Mills, tested recipes for chefs, and had a very short-lived morning show segment on WCCO-TV talking about ingredients at the farmers market.

When she’s not writing about food, she’s working as a corporate content strategist and freelance social media consultant while trying to travel the world as much as possible.

Normally, I have all of the presents purchased (or at least mapped out) by the time Thanksgiving rolls around. This year my gift buying seems to be lagging, so I pulled together a list of stocking stuffers for food lovers to kick start my own shopping. Whether you need to buy something for a co-worker, a friend, or a family member, check something off your list with these gift ideas.

I love Thanksgiving. It’s one of my favorite holidays for a few reasons. First, it always falls on a Thursday, making it easy to plan. Second, I always take Thursday off to celebrate it with my husband’s family, so it’s like a bonus Thanksgiving. Third, a weekend always follows, so it feels like a long vacation from work. And lastly, it revolves around food, and who doesn’t like food?

If you’re anything like me, you are trying to adjust to the cooler temperatures (okay, cold temperatures – it was 35 degrees walking into work yesterday). My body is craving food. Lots of it. As much as I want to eat pasta and pizza and other heavy dishes, I know it’s all about balance so I try to work in a few full flavored and veggie heavy meals each day so I can still indulge in those carb-heavy dishes.

This month I’ve had the luxury of having a little extra free time on my hands to stock the freezer with things that will help with future meal prep like beef, bacon and kale meatballs, breakfast burritos, breaded eggplant, and a whole bunch of basil pesto. Add that to our stash of frozen fruit, salmon, and other tidbits and I think we’re set for winter – or at least partway through winter since it does tend to be long.

Was that it? Was that summer? Dang. Let’s take a look back at August and pretend fall isn’t around the corner. This week I’ve highlighted a new food truck find, a new item at a favorite restaurant, and a delicious coffee treat to keep you going all day long.